Awesome, Amazing All Star Comics Complete Run-They deserve their own thread! 5 5

[Ghastly542454]

21 minutes ago, sagii said:

That one always seemed to deserve 'classic cover' status in my opinion. 

I used to enjoy the JLA/JSA team ups as a kid. Still remember being 'shocked' to learn the JSA actually did come first, and it wasn't just a plot device, from an older cousin who had been into comics.

Always made it harder to understand after why they were Earth 2 instead of 1 

I love this wartime cover too! It’s not my favorite All Star cover but it’s in the top 5 or 6.

[Ghastly542454]

All Star Comics #13-This issue features the story titled “Shanghaied into Space”. Hitler and a Nazi engineer use rockets to send to each of “der Justiss Battalion” to a different planet. With Dr. Fate absent, Nazi agents gas (that has a very sad sound to it actually knowing that the Nazi’s gassed and killed millions of people) the JSAer’s and hurl them into space. Each member goes to a different planet-Hawkman-Saturn, Sandman-Uranus, Dr. Mid-Nite-Neptune, Starman-Jupiter, Atom-Mars, Spectre-Pluto, Johnny Thunder-Mercury, and Wonder Woman-Venus. 

In solo adventures, each member lands on a planet, helps the locals defeat a threat, and receives a useful going-away present from grateful denizens. When they return back to Earth, the JSAer’s clobber the agents and radio Berlin that they’re back with “scientific secrets that will help humanity on our side of the fence”. 

The JSAer’s invite Wonder Woman to be their secretary and sing “For she’s a jolly good fellow” while Hitler tears his hair out! Though an honorary member, Wonder Woman agrees to continue as act as the JSA secretary. 

Some oddities about this issue are that although Dr. Fate is listed on both the cover and splash, he is not depicted, and this was the first time a regular JSAer named on the cover does not appear. Gardner Fox wrote this story but Dr. William Moulton Marston did not like it so he re-wrote Wonder Woman’s episode. Some of concepts introduced in that episode included the concept of Venusians which were later utilized in Sensation Comics #11 and Wonder Woman #12. 

In this issue, a two-page ad heralds the new Junior Justice Society of America which could be purchased for .15 in stamps or coin. 

Of all of the All Star Comics covers, I have to say this one by Jack Burnley is my favorite!!  There is something very E.C. Weird Science/Fantasy Feldsteinian about it. My All Star Comics #13 was won in an evening of Comic Link auctions where I won not only #13 but #28 and #29 as well. I was very happy with the #13 which was another white-paged book, but not so much with the #28 and especially the #29 which I will discuss when I get to them. 

At the Yorba Linda Comic Con in 2016, Mike Carbanaro had a complete original owner Junior Justice Society Membership kit. It was quite pricey though at $1,500. I kept walking by it all day long thinking should I get it or not? I REALLY wanted it but just couldn’t pull the trigger. As was driving home that afternoon, I was feeling sick like I had made a big mistake by letting it go. When I got home I contacted someone I knew who could get in contact with Mike to see if he still had it. Luckily for me, Mike still had it, was in town, and agreed to sell it to me for $1,200. My contact picked it up for me and later the next day afternoon, I was the very proud owner. It is a decision I was very, very happy I made as although I have seen pieces of the Membership kit come up for sale every now and then, I have never seen another complete one offered for sale again. I should add that the metal Junior Justice Society badge did not originally come with my Membership Kit. I added it later. It was only out for a brief time and was replaced by the cloth version.

Edited May 31, 2020 by Ghastly542454

[Comics181]

Amazing books! I love sandmans original design

[sagii]

1 hour ago, Ghastly542454 said:

All Star Comics #13-This issue features the story titled “Shanghaied into Space”. Hitler and a Nazi engineer use rockets to send to each of “der Justiss Battalion” to a different planet. With Dr. Fate absent, Nazi agents gas (that has a very sad sound to it actually knowing that the Nazi’s gassed and killed millions of people) the JSAer’s and hurl them into space. Each member goes to a different planet-Hawkman-Saturn, Sandman-Uranus, Dr. Mid-Nite-Neptune, Starman-Jupiter, Atom-Mars, Spectre-Pluto, Johnny Thunder-Mercury, and Wonder Woman-Venus. 

In solo adventures, each member lands on a planet, helps the locals defeat a threat, and receives a useful going-away present from grateful denizens. When they return back to Earth, the JSAer’s clobber the agents and radio Berlin that they’re back with “scientific secrets that will help humanity on our side of the fence”. 

The JSAer’s invite Wonder Woman to be their secretary and sing “For she’s a jolly good fellow” while Hitler tears his hair out! Though an honorary member, Wonder Woman agrees to continue as act as the JSA secretary. 

Some oddities about this issue are that although Dr. Fate is listed on both the cover and splash, he is not depicted, and this was the first time a regular JSAer named on the cover does not appear. Gardner Fox wrote this story but Dr. William Moulton Marston did not like it so he re-wrote Wonder Woman’s episode. Some of concepts introduced in that episode included the concept of Venusians which were later utilized in Sensation Comics #11 and Wonder Woman #12. 

In this issue, a two-page ad heralds the new Junior Justice Society of America which could be purchased for .15 in stamps or coin. 

Of all of the All Star Comics covers, I have to say this one by Jack Burnley is my favorite!!  There is something very E.C. Weird Science/Fantasy Feldsteinian about it. My All Star Comics #13 was won in an evening of Comic Link auctions where I won not only #13 but #28 and #29 as well. I was very happy with the #13 which was another white-paged book, but not so much with the #28 and especially the #29 which I will discuss when I get to them. 

At the Yorba Linda Comic Con in 2016, Mike Carbanaro had a complete original owner Junior Justice Society Membership kit. It was quite pricey though at $1,500. I kept walking by it all day long thinking should I get it or not? I REALLY wanted it but just couldn’t pull the trigger. As I driving home that afternoon, I was feeling sick like I had made a big mistake by letting it go. When I got home I contacted someone I knew who could get in contact with Mike to see if he still had it. Luckily for me, Mike still had it, was in town, and agreed to sell it to me for $1,200. My contact picked it up for me and later the next day afternoon, I was the very proud owner. It is a decision I was very, very happy I made as although I have seen pieces of the Membership kit come up for sale every now and then, I have never seen another complete one offered for sale again. I should add that the metal Junior Justice Society badge did not originally come with my Membership Kit. I added it later. It was only out for a brief time and was replaced by the cloth version.

paging @Robot Man

[Ghastly542454]

All Star #14-The title for the story in this issue was “Food for Starving Patriots”. The cover was by Joe Gallagher and the story was written by Gardner Fox. However, it seems likely that Simon and Kirby rewrote part of the Sandman segment. 

Hawkman tells the JSA they must feed Europes’s people so their “gallant underground army” can help the Allies. Armed with pill-shaped capsule which when sprayed with a secret solution expand into complete dinners (the capsules and their secret solution seems to be an actual idea that would happen in the future-dehydrated foods which you add water to), each male JSA member journeys to a country in Occupied Europe and even a concentration camp in Germany itself-to distribute to capsules. 

This is the first time Sandman’s partner Sandy “The Golden Boy” appears in All Star Comics. The editorial pages asks“Have You Joined The Junior Justice Society Of America”? and gives a message in Hawkman code-the first JJSA code message. The two-page ad for joining the JJSA from issue #13 is repeated again in this issue. 

I can’t remember where or when I got this issue but I’ve had it for a long time.

[Ghastly542454]

All Star Comics #15- Cover by Frank Harry and story by Gardner Fox. The male JSAer’s leave Wonder Woman letterswhy they will be missing the upcoming meeting about seemingly unrelated missions. Wonder Woman leads their “girl friends” in costumes modeled after the male members which she made and sewed together to search for them . In each solo chapter, a male JSAer learns the villain he is seeking is The Brain Wave who creates “thought images” to blackmail prominent people. Brain Wave is hiding out in his tower at Sharktooth Bay and he captures Wonder Woman and the girlfriends. The JSA men defeat him and the fleeing Brain Wave seems to fall to his death. 

The Brain Wave does not die and will be featured again in All Star Comics #17, #30, and in #37 as a member of the Injustice Society and will become the Golden Age Justice Society’s most encountered foe. 

I bought All Star Comics sometime in 2016 off of eBay but don’t remember from who or what I paid for it.

[Ghastly542454]

All Star Comics #16-Cover by Frank Harry and story by Gardner Fox though it is likely the Sandman chapter was written by Simon and Kirby.

Hawkman tells the JSA of a recent Hitler speech saying the Nazis must divide and conquer, setting “Gentile against Jew-Protestant against Catholic”. “Der Furhrer” sends 8 agents to America to stir up trouble. To find them, each JSAer enlists the aid of a member of the Junior Justice Society and together they triumph. Later, at a war bond rally, the JSA bring onstage a group of everyday citizens-“America at War”.

This was the last issue to use the term “Justice Battalion” for the JSA. Future issues will be generally less war-oriented. 

My All Star Comics #16 was purchased in January of 2020 from Steve Zuvich (Midnite21) off of eBay as an upgrade to a 4.0 that I had previously owned.

All Star Comics #16’s cover inspired Neal Adams wrap around cover for the D.C. 100 Page Super Spectacular #6 in 1971 which featured the combined membership of the Justice League and Justice Society marking the first time several Earth-1 and Earth -2 versions of characters appeared together.

[Ghastly542454]

All Star Comics #17-Cover by Joe Gallagher and story, “The Brain Wave Goes Beserk” is by by Gardner Fox. However it is likely that the Sandman segment was written by Simon and Kirby. 

Wonder Woman announces that the minutes of past meetings have been stolen. After she leaves, the male JSAers are reduced to 8” in height and put into cages by The Brain Wave. After they learn of his plans, Hawkman’s hawks carry off all eight of the cages containing Hawkman, Sandman, Spectre, Dr. Fate, Dr. Mid-Nite, Starman, Atom, and Johnny Thunder and the shrunken heroes foil the crimes. At the end of each solo segment, The Thunderbolt sweeps up each hero and in the finale, he brings them together at normal size. The Brain Wave attempts to blow them all up but instead, his tower explodes because The Thunderbolt had moved his explosives underneath it. 

In the Editorial Page, “The War Production Board has ordered all magazine publishers  to use 10% less paper in 1943 than in 1942. As a result, More Fun and Adventure will be published bi-monthly and All-American Comics will come out only eight times a year until further notice” What the publishers don’t announce though is another change that begins in issue #17. This was the first All Star Comics to contain 56 pages instead of 64. As result , it is thought that the Hawkman chapter became 2-3 pages shorter and the Atom and Dr. Mid-Nite chapters were shortened by a page each. 

I’m not sure when or where I got my #17 but I’ve had it for a while. It’s a nice looking 4.5 but I wouldn’t mind upgrading it if I could get $600-$650 for it.

You will have to go to page 5 of this thread to find All Star Comics #18 as I accidentally skipped over it!!

Edited June 5, 2020 by Ghastly542454

[sagii]

43 minutes ago, Ghastly542454 said:

 

REALLY nice colors on this copy, and what a cover image, one of the other knock outs in run! 

Interesting footnote that only DC seemed to be able to sustain the Hero Team genre during the golden age (successfully anyway). And to think even without using Superman and Batman to being interactive in the stories or just to add additional sales. The other characters must've had strong followings in their own right from their respective solo adventures.

The other publishers 'teased' team up action on the covers of anthology titles during the times, but i believe in most of those books the interaction was mainly on cover only, minus the occasional -though notable  team up of two heroes here and there. 

Great read, and thoroughly enjoy the synopsis' and your personal stories on your acquiring the books! 

[Ghastly542454]

3 minutes ago, sagii said:

REALLY nice colors on this copy, and what a cover image, one of the other knock outs in run! 

Interesting footnote that only DC seemed to be able to sustain the Hero Team genre during the golden age (successfully anyway). And to think even without using Superman and Batman to being interactive in the stories or just to add additional sales. The other characters must've had strong followings in their own right from their respective solo adventures.

The other publishers 'teased' team up action on the covers of anthology titles during the times, but i believe in most of those books the interaction was mainly on cover only, minus the occasional -though notable  team up of two heroes here and there. 

Great read, and thoroughly enjoy the synopsis' and your personal stories on your acquiring the books! 

Thank you Corey! I truly appreciate your insights. 

[Ghastly542454]

All Star Comics #19-Cover by Joe Gallagher and a story titled “The Crimes Set to Music” by Gardner Fox.

The story in this issue is not even worth writing about!! It’s one of the worst in the run in my opinion. The cover itself though is quite pleasing with the black background. There is a full-page ad for the JJSA including a message in Dr. Mid-Nite Code. 

I bought this one off of eBay sometime in 2015. I think I paid somewhere between $500-$600 for it.

[Ghastly542454]

All Star Comics #20-Cover by Joe Gallagher and a story titled “The Movie That Changed A Man’s Life” by Gardner Fox.

The inspiration for this story is of course Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and probably the most direct influence was the MGM Spencer Tracy version from 1941. 

Industrialist Jason Rogers asks the JSA to help him because a super-criminal called The Monster has left hints of future crime plans in his home. Six male JSAers foil the crimes. Later they assemble at Roger’s home where they are attacked by The Monster who claims Rogers is his twin and stole his body. The Monster is felled by rays from his own gun and reverts to Rogers. The JSAers learn that unknown to Rogers, The Monster was his bodiless twin who could inhabit and alter Roger’s body at will. Rogers accepts his fate and dies. 

Due to another drop in interior pages this time from 56 pages to 48, this is the first issue where two present and accounted for JSAers, the Sandman and Dr. Fate, have no solo assignments. 

A full-page feature starring the JSA announces that in conjunction with President Roosevelt’s Jan 30th birthday, that anyone who sends in a printed coupon (I guess whoever originally own my copy didn’t do it!) and .15 cents to the March of Dimes by March 1, 1944, would receive a free membership to the JJSA. Whether by accident or design, infantile paralysis in this feature is referred to as a “monster”. A full-page Green Lantern/Doiby Dickles comics feature plug paper salvage. 

I can’t recall when I purchased my issue of #20 but I know I purchased it off of eBay.

[sagii]

1 hour ago, Ghastly542454 said:

 

Sweet golden age Horror cover (and story) with this one! 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

7 hours ago, Ghastly542454 said:

All Star Comics #19-Cover by Joe Gallagher and a story titled “The Crimes Set to Music” by Gardner Fox.

The story in this issue is not even worth writing about!! It’s one of the worst in the run in my opinion. The cover itself though is quite pleasing with the black background. There is a full-page ad for the JJSA including a message in Dr. Mid-Nite Code. 

I bought this one off of eBay sometime in 2015. I think I paid somewhere between $500-$600 for it.

Gardner Fox wrote some real stinkers; no surprise. Some of the stories he wrote for All Flash are almost unreadable. He must have been cranking this stuff out like a madman.

[Chicago Boy]

18 hours ago, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

Gardner Fox wrote some real stinkers; no surprise. Some of the stories he wrote for All Flash are almost unreadable. He must have been cranking this stuff out like a madman.

Your post made me laugh 👍🏻

[1950's war comics]

this was a great Sunday morning thread to read !  chock full of great reading about a series i knew very little about beforehand !!

threads like this that individually reveal entire runs are my favorite thing on these boards !

[Ghastly542454]

9 minutes ago, 1950's war comics said:

this was a great Sunday morning thread to read !  chock full of great reading about a series i knew very little about beforehand !!

threads like this that individually reveal entire runs are my favorite thing on these boards !

Thanks 😊! I’ll be starting it up again tomorrow!

[1950's war comics]

it's amazing how they almost always fit the whole cast of members on each cover without making it seem cluttered - these are some great covers

[Ghastly542454]

All Star #21- The story titled “The Man Who Relived His Life” was written by Gardener Fox and the cover was by Joe Gallagher.

A letter from the President asks the JSA to help a man “change his past life” At a hospital, Professor Everson introduces them to a lab worker named Joe Fitch. To atone for his mis-spent life, Fitch drank one of two untested serums that Everson developed as a cure for an unnamed disease. Fitch’s actions have shown which was the cure but now Fitch is dying. Everson’s time-ray machine sends the JSAer’s back to crucial points in Fitch’s life so they can stop him from doing things he now regrets and die with a clear conscious. When the JSAer’s return, they tell Fitch that he didn’t commit any crimes. That night Fitch dies and Hawkman wonders where his soul has gone. In my opinion, this was another stinker story from Gardner Fox. 

The editorial page has another message in Hawkman code and there is a new full-page ad for the JJSA. 

This issue marks the final appearances of Dr. Fate and Sandman in All Star Comics. 

This was the first issue of All Star Comics that I ever owned having purchased a beater copy in 1967 at Bond Street Books in Hollywood, CA. That copy is long gone hopefully making someone happy in their collection. The copy I now have was purchased at auction from Comic Connect in 2016.

 

 

[sagii]

Wonder if there was a system in place to decide which characters got' voted off the island' 

Keep em' coming